Humanitarian access for Rohingyas limited in Rakhine: UN

The United Nations has said that there was little progress in terms of humanitarian aid organisations entering Myanmar's strife-torn Rakhine state, where the Rohingyas are facing brutal discrimination by the security forces.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres's spokesperson, Stephen Dujarric was quoted by Anadolu News Agency as saying, "Substantial progress is urgently needed in granting effective access for aid organisations and addressing the root causes of the crisis, including freedom of movement, safety, and a pathway to citizenship for all communities."

He underscored that humanitarian access in northern Rakhine was "severely limited" and the situation in the state was "deeply worrying."

Dujarric further said that the lack of humanitarian access meant denying life-saving support to those who needed attention. He added that the UN was "standing ready to go where we have effective access, but this has not yet been granted by the government".

Last month, Guterres took a tough stand on the Myanmar Government, saying that the UN would pressurise the latter on the Rohingya issue.

The Rohingyas are a Muslim minority ethnic group in Myanmar and are considered to be illegal immigrants. More than 700,000 of them are languishing in Bangladeshi refugee camps, after fleeing a brutal Myanmar army campaign in August last year.